I like the depth of this line, but C and both guard spots are tenuous for the starters. Still though, having guys like Urbik, Steen, Young, and the rookie dude is pretty solid for depth, much better than we've had in years past. If Tunsil can become the dominant LT he was projected to be and if Pouncey can miraculously stay healthy, this line can be well above average in this league. Obviously Pouncey's health is the huge question, but nobody knows whats really going on there, we're all just guessing and being pessimistic without any true medical knowledge of his situation in reality.

I'm worried about our OL. I have a low amount of faith in Bushrod's run blocking, low faith in Larsen in general, and am increasingly worried about Pouncey's health. At best we can describe James' play as a mixed bag.

Tunsil is the only one I'm confident about. I have hope for Asiata, but depending on a 5th round rookie to save an OL doesn't exactly inspire confidence.

We should have spent some money on at least one interior OL in free agency. I said it last year. I said it at the beginning, middle and end of this off-season. And I continue to be both amazed and frustrated in our inability to properly address this problem. Fingers crossed.

I'm interested to see how Steen looks this year. He came out of nowhere last year and impressed.
He was pretty good his first few starts, but then was injured.
I heard him in an interview say that he played through the pain because he felt his roster spot was precarious.
His play dropped off after the injury, but now that he's healthy I think with a year under his belt he will be better this season. I wouldn't discount him.

well he has his weaknesses, however, doesn't matter how good a player is if they are always injured. /sigh. our line situation looks likely to be our weakness again.

Click to expand...

Well we keep bringing in mediocre players every year and do a patchwork job for our o-line, so it's no wonder our line sucks. Once and for all we need to draft a few o-linemen especially early and build a first rate group.

well he has his weaknesses, however, doesn't matter how good a player is if they are always injured. /sigh. our line situation looks likely to be our weakness again.

Click to expand...

I know it wouldn't the have been the sexy thing to do in the draft, but I can not believe they did not address O-Line before the 5th rd. To have such a glaring need and to just dismiss it is more than frustrating. Everything about the offense branches out from O-Line play. The QB can not pass the ball w/o the O-Line protecting and running game can not get going w/o blocking.

I know it wouldn't the have been the sexy thing to do in the draft, but I can not believe they did not address O-Line before the 5th rd. To have such a glaring need and to just dismiss it is more than frustrating. Everything about the offense branches out from O-Line play. The QB can not pass the ball w/o the O-Line protecting and running game can not get going w/o blocking.

Click to expand...

Forget the 5th round. It should have been handled, once and for all, in free agency. Much less mystery and chance for Dallas Thomas with proven players. This guard dilemma has been going on for a few decades, mind you. The dolphins, like clockwork, went another direction. It was still a phenomenal draft but how they again shrugged off the reason this team has been brutal to watch on offense is staggering.

It will be a gift from the gods if interior line play isn't the Achilles heel of this team. At least the depth is palatable when compared to previous years, but that group doesn't even sniff inspiring confidence.

But, like every year, I'll be told to 'wait until games are played before I make up my mind', and round and round she goes.

Well we keep bringing in mediocre players every year and do a patchwork job for our o-line, so it's no wonder our line sucks. Once and for all we need to draft a few o-linemen especially early and build a first rate group.

Click to expand...

Once and for all? You realize 3 of our starters we took in the first round? We also have spent so many picks on guards in recent years that didn't pan out. Last season We cut a 2nd 3rd and a 5th round guard we drafted in the past 3 years. You only have so many draft picks.

I agree the o-line has room to grow, mainly at G. What I don't agree with is how eveyone just expects to magically fix it. There are limited resources, I.E. salary cap, 7 draft picks, so you can't fix everything at once. Our defense needed a complete overhaul and needed every draft pick and every free agent we signed. I liked Lamp but grabbing DE in round 1 was a 100x more important. This was a really bad off season for free agent o-line. Jake freaking Joekel got a boat load of money, and he was a complete flame out. Zeiter and and Leary were he only slam dunks at G, but it would have cost us 10 million per year to grab either. That's LT money, and as we could afford it this year we could not next and years after.

Then the Mike Pouncey dilemma. He hand cuffed us, as a he has a huge salary, and he is a game changer if healthy. Last season he missed 11 games, but before that he has only missed 8 games 5 years. Do you cut ties with a top 3 center in the NFL to get a cheaper more reliable, but less dominant player? Or do you give him one more season to see if he can stay on the field? I think Gase made he right call as it is just too soon to give up on an all world talent like Pouncey, and if he can stay healthy this group will be better than average.

Once and for all? You realize 3 of our starters we took in the first round? We also have spent so many picks on guards in recent years that didn't pan out. Last season We cut a 2nd 3rd and a 5th round guard we drafted in the past 3 years. You only have so many draft picks.

I agree the o-line has room to grow, mainly at G. What I don't agree with is how eveyone just expects to magically fix it. There are limited resources, I.E. salary cap, 7 draft picks, so you can't fix everything at once. Our defense needed a complete overhaul and needed every draft pick and every free agent we signed. I liked Lamp but grabbing DE in round 1 was a 100x more important. This was a really bad off season for free agent o-line. Jake freaking Joekel got a boat load of money, and he was a complete flame out. Zeiter and and Leary were he only slam dunks at G, but it would have cost us 10 million per year to grab either. That's LT money, and as we could afford it this year we could not next and years after.

Then the Mike Pouncey dilemma. He hand cuffed us, as a he has a huge salary, and he is a game changer if healthy. Last season he missed 11 games, but before that he has only missed 8 games 5 years. Do you cut ties with a top 3 center in the NFL to get a cheaper more reliable, but less dominant player? Or do you give him one more season to see if he can stay on the field? I think Gase made he right call as it is just too soon to give up on an all world talent like Pouncey, and if he can stay healthy this group will be better than average.

Click to expand...

Magically fix? In your defense of the Phins, you deflect the problem.

Interior oline play has been a issue for a decade plus. Tunsil last year was the band aid. This year...

Once and for all? You realize 3 of our starters we took in the first round? We also have spent so many picks on guards in recent years that didn't pan out. Last season We cut a 2nd 3rd and a 5th round guard we drafted in the past 3 years. You only have so many draft picks.

I agree the o-line has room to grow, mainly at G. What I don't agree with is how eveyone just expects to magically fix it. There are limited resources, I.E. salary cap, 7 draft picks, so you can't fix everything at once. Our defense needed a complete overhaul and needed every draft pick and every free agent we signed. I liked Lamp but grabbing DE in round 1 was a 100x more important. This was a really bad off season for free agent o-line. Jake freaking Joekel got a boat load of money, and he was a complete flame out. Zeiter and and Leary were he only slam dunks at G, but it would have cost us 10 million per year to grab either. That's LT money, and as we could afford it this year we could not next and years after.

Then the Mike Pouncey dilemma. He hand cuffed us, as a he has a huge salary, and he is a game changer if healthy. Last season he missed 11 games, but before that he has only missed 8 games 5 years. Do you cut ties with a top 3 center in the NFL to get a cheaper more reliable, but less dominant player? Or do you give him one more season to see if he can stay on the field? I think Gase made he right call as it is just too soon to give up on an all world talent like Pouncey, and if he can stay healthy this group will be better than average.

Click to expand...

Good post.

Everyone complaining and bitching with no plan, no hindsight, no real reasoning. They drafted Tunsil in the 1st last season... Asiata was drafted this year in the 5th when apparently a lot of you had him with a 2nd or 3rd round grade. In terms of free agency, what did you want them to do? Pay $10mil/year for the guys available? I am happy they didn't.

They were handcuffed at center this season - you all bitching know this, right? But we weren't handcuffed in that we are gambling and hoping he stays healthy... we are handcuffed because of money, not because of his talent. We had to give Pouncey a chance this season because it wouldn't have made sense from a money standpoint to cut him this year, the dead money would be ridiculous this year. Next year he comes off the books if he can't stay healthy.

So we have both our tackles pretty much set and we just talked about why we wouldn't move on from Pouncey in 2017, so back to the other two positions guard. As I said, free agency guard money was ridiculous and it was the right move to not overpay for those guys. As a result we got Larsen, who I have openly been much higher on than pretty much anyone here (hopefully I'm right), and we get Bushrod back to hopefully play better in his 2nd time ever at guard... we also drafted a guard that you were all very high on coming into the draft.

So everyone bitching - what exactly did you expect them to do differently? I am not expecting big things from this OL because I don't expect Pouncey to play very much which will leave a big hole in the middle... but I also realize they weren't going to reasonably address 4-5 different spots effectively in one offseason and it would NOT have made sense to address the center position this offseason. I think we're making more good moves than bad, and adding more talent than losing. At this point, what more can we ask?

I know it's an arbitrary website, but you know Larsen was a higher ranked G last year than Tunsil?

Click to expand...

Did not know, thanks. If he truly is better than Tunsil at guard, we will all be overjoyed. 'Cause we expect Tunsil to be better than Albert.

I did a piece on Jake Long that showed unequivocally through pictures on a timeline the primadonnification process Miami has on linemen. First photo he looked like a lumberjack in fight club. It ended with beautiful, flowing locks that would make you say, "Why should I even bother to have hair, when he's got hair like that!" (bonus points if anyone can tell me what movie I stole that line from).

Larsen will be serviceable and hopefully unnoticeable. He's nothing special but not a bum.

Click to expand...

Sorry forgot to mention the website, its Pro Football Focus. Tunsil had a grade of 70.6 while Larsen had a grade of 72.8. Tunsil was rated in the 60s of all starting G last year while Larsen was in the 40s. I know this site isn't sacred, but it shows there will not be a big down grade at G from Tunsil to Larsen. That makes sense as Tunsil has never played G in his life, and Ted Larsen has been a starting NFL guard for 7 seasons. I don't know why there is so much hate for Ted on this site. I feel like its mostly based in the fact his last name isn't Zeiter or Leary. I am willing to give this guy a chance. If he outplays Asiatta, Ubrick, and Steen, then there is a good chance he will have a good season.

Sorry forgot to mention the website, its Pro Football Focus. Tunsil had a grade of 70.6 while Larsen had a grade of 72.8. Tunsil was rated in the 60s of all starting G last year while Larsen was in the 40s. I know this site isn't sacred, but it shows there will not be a big down grade at G from Tunsil to Larsen. That makes sense as Tunsil has never played G in his life, and Ted Larsen has been a starting NFL guard for 7 seasons. I don't know why there is so much hate for Ted on this site. I feel like its mostly based in the fact his last name isn't Zeiter or Leary. I am willing to give this guy a chance. If he outplays Asiatta, Ubrick, and Steen, then there is a good chance he will have a good season.

Thanks, but I figured it might be PFF. I wouldn't get your hopes up based on their crap analysis. Larsen will hopefully remain unnoticeable and that's probably the best case scenario we can hope to get from him.

How many sacks were attributed to Larson ? Tunsil was responsible for one I believe which regardless of how PFF rated him was outstanding.

Click to expand...

.5, so that is pretty good, but sack's don't define G play unless you give up a lot. Most sacks come from outside, and even when it comes from a DT its usually because the outside forced the QB to step up in a sack. Where Tunsil struggled was run blocking, and that is what defines G play. Guys that get to the 2nd level consistently to take on LBs after chipping a DT are guys who are stand out Gs.

Here's one thing that I think may benefit Miami in terms of adding a quality G or C prior to the start of the regular season. I was unaware of this until recently, but the NFL changed the way teams cut players to get to (53), by making it all one day (Sept 3) instead of the additional 2 cut days prior. Many teams, Miami included, will learn about new and young players and end up cutting proven players to save $, build for the future, etc., and having more time to do so will help Miami's cause here. It may be wishful thinking, but if you're targeted in on 1 or 2 positions you need to improve (at least depth), I think you stand a great chance at adding valuable depth on Sept 3, 2017. The theory (according to the guys on NFL radio) is teams will have more time to evaluate guys they are unsure of - and if it saves them $ to keep them and say goodbye to the veteran, they'll have more time to confirm it's a good decision. Not sure if that all makes sense, but bottom line, I can see Miami adding someone pretty decent on the single cut down day.

.5, so that is pretty good, but sack's don't define G play unless you give up a lot. Most sacks come from outside, and even when it comes from a DT its usually because the outside forced the QB to step up in a sack. Where Tunsil struggled was run blocking, and that is what defines G play. Guys that get to the 2nd level consistently to take on LBs after chipping a DT are guys who are stand out Gs.

That's very good if accurate. Yea Tunsil was a tackle playing guard but at least he keep our QB on his feet so i give him credit for that. He should ready shine at LT his natural position. Remember the guys he replaced at guard ? Pure garbage.

Ah, yes. Thanks. I had forgotten as that was a reason I had reviewed more tape of him in Arizona & Tampa than I did of Chicago.

Click to expand...

So .5 and he played 8 games double that and it's 1 sack. Not really a big deal. The point is Ryan should have time to pass, and there won't be much of a drop off if any at LG. I know he won't make the probowl, but if he is average to above average we will be fine.

If Larsens is average to above average and plays every game in addition to Tunsil playing all the games at LT that in and of itself will be a huge upgrade. I also expect Bushrod to have a better season than last, while playing every game. Continuity is so important for an OL's performance. The day we get consistency from the Center position is the day our OL catapults into the top 15.